What is Distnoted.exe and Why is it Running?

You’re probably reading this because you did a search for distnoted.exe and wanted to know what it was, and why it was running on your computer. The good news is that it isn’t a virus. This process was created by Apple and runs along side iTunes to provide mobile device support. For more details, read on.

According to the official Apple kb article, distnoted.exe “allows iTunes to sync with iPhone and iPod touch.” Or in other words, without this process you wouldn’t be able to exchange data between your phone and computer via USB cable.

A look through Process Explorer reveals that distnoted.exe is started by another process, AppleMobileDeviceHelper.exe and triggered by iTunes being open. If iTunes is closed, distnoted.exe usually also closes within a few seconds.

Conclusion

You shouldn’t be worried if you see distnoted.exe running on your computer, unless you’ve never installed iTunes. This process is safe and created by Apple to provide syncing support for iOS devices. It’s best left alone, and it’s system footprint (RAM usage) is low enough that you shouldn’t even notice it running performance wise.

probably a crash, just kill the process via task manager. If things go
bad, log out and log back in to Windows. Should do the trick (might
start the process again). Try reinstalling iTunes if that doesn’t help
you.